Looking Ahead Before Looking Back

Before we get to the good stuff from the weekend, lets get to the great stuff about next weekend.

We all know Nick Saban and 'Bama are coming on Saturday.

We all now know that ESPN's College Game Day will be in town broadcasting from around the stadium (more on several locations speculations later).




Now, reports are coming in about Mark Richt's press conference today. Per The Red and Black:

During his Sunday teleconference, Georgia coach Mark Richt announced that Saturday's game with Alabama will be a "blackout."

ESPN's College GameDay crew will also be making the trip to Athens for the 7:45 p.m. kickoff.

"The seniors asked me if we could black out the game and since it's not a day game where heat could be a factor we're going to ask our fans to black out the stadium again
our players will be wearing the black jerseys," Richt said.

OHHH mah gawd.

Not only will Game Day be in town for the first time in eleven years, we're continuing the tradition of the blackout. And what better time to do it? National media in the morning. Prime time coverage at night. First home SEC game. And against Nick Saban.

Not to mention The Tim Baldwin Foundation's annual Tim's Tailgate throwing down over on Bloomfield. Per the Tim's Tailgate Facebook group:

Come join us for the biggest tailgate of the year in Athens before the Alabama game. Stewart and Winfield will be playing. $15 in advance $20 at the door covers all you can drink beer and mixed drinks, and all you can eat catered food.

All proceeds go toward the Tim Baldwin Foundation which in the past have benefitted numerous charity organizations such as Camp St. Francis of North Georgia, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home in Atlanta. Tim's Tailgate has been a huge success in the past and we only expect this year to be our best year yet!

Get your pom pom's and bourbon ready. This one could get ugly.

What We Really Don't Want to See in 2008

With the high temperatures of August come the wonders of a new season of college football. And with those wonders come expectations of what to see, which we have already previewed, and what not to see.

These lists can be extensive. They can be demeaning. They can be very biased. Here at DawgsOnTop, we frankly don't even care what you think.

So, to follow up our What to See, here is our list of Top 10 What Not to See in 2008...:


10) An empty seat in Sanford Stadium

We are preseason #1. Unless there is a death in your family or someone offers you $2,000 for your ticket, your seat better not be empty. I take that back... your seat better be empty, but the area immediately in front of it better be occupied by a loud, rambunctious, drunk, and standing Dawg fan. Yes, Mr. Adams, drunk. Noise people, noise.

9) More Big-10 love

Yes, I saw that OMGZ!#@ Michigan totally beat Florida n their bowl game!!! Ohio State was in da 'Ship!!

I don't care. Florida wasn't that good, especially their defense. Ohio State got waxed for the second straight year. It seemed like all of last season, the "experts" believed the Big-10 was a challenging foe for the SEC, maybe even better. But we all know true football isn't played up north.

8) A healthy season for Percy Harvin

He hasn't had one yet, and he is more important to his team than ever. He is that type of guy that can change the game in a matter of seconds, and we can only expect more in his third year. Hopefully those expectations will fall short... That being said, we don't want to see an unhealthy season for any of the Dawgs. (Note: this is all in good fun. Kind of.)

7) Any more arrests

I swear, the whole team should be locked away in the states if one more athlete gets arrested for having a BAC of .183. All jokes aside, the team does need to stay out of trouble and the media's spotlight.

6) Mark May

"With my top 5, I have Georgia at #4 and as my team that is most at risk for a disappointing season. On the outside looking in, I see Pittsburgh making a strong push for a Top 25 spot and in contention for the Big East."

Anything else, Mr. May?

5) A loss to an overwhelmingly under underdog.

As much as I love a great upset, I hate them. Especially when my team is on the receiving end. App State's victory over Michigan was priceless. Losing to Vandy again at home is not.

4) A "darkhorse" Heisman Trophy candidate

There are darkhorses, and there are "darkhorses." Noel Devine, Jeremy Maclin, A.J. Green... those are darkhorses. I don't care if DeSean Jackson returned 2 punts for touchdowns. I really don't care how many touchdowns Colt Brennan threw in OT to beat Louisiana Tech or San Diego State. And I know this shouln't be a factor, but I do care that Tim Tebow only won 9 games. Just a thought...

3) A deserving team shut out of the BCS National Championship game

I hate to say it, but the '07 Dawgs team was a South Carolina game away from the title game. Did we deserve it? No, probably not. Did we deserve a shot? Maybe. Fool on you, BCS. But no one wants to see a repeat of 2003.

2) Tim Tebow accepting a second Heisman Trophy

True, he may be damn near Superman for Florida's offense, but he only won 9 games last year. True, his numbers are hard to ignore. But a repeat year is far-fetched, as is an East title. Tennessee has the Gators at home looking for revenge, Auburn would love another bite of Gator tail at home, and, of course, the #1 Dawgs meet them in Jacksonville. Look for a few more tears out of Timmy, either in his Crocs or cleats.

1) A two-week campaign party thrown by ESPN endorsing a single (or multiple) candidate(s) for a seat in Miami

Anything else need to be said about that?


Once again, I would like to add that here at DawgsOnTop, we love to joke around about these sorts of things, even if we are completely serious and mean everything we say.

Go Dawgs!

Poythress, Bulldogs Highlighted

ESPN has published a story written by Curt McKeever, a reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star, that talks about Georgia's success in the College World Series and highlights Georgia's Rich Poythress. Check it out, its a good read. Hopefully the last line of the article becomes true...

More Baseball Tidbits

As mentioned earlier, our very own Gordon Beckham and Joshua Fields have been selected in the first round of this year's MLB first-year draft, as they were selected 8th and 20th overall. Fields has recently been named the top closer of the year after his stunning season where he accrued 16 saves, captured the SEC all-time save lead, and pitched 56 strikeouts, not to mention his amazing 0.0 ERA streak. Beckham is looking for a trophy of is own as he awaits the final tallies of the Golden Spikes Award, similar to football's Heisman Trophy.

Silently, however, another Bulldog was chosen in the second round of the draft, 50th overall. That other Bulldog, Xavier Avery, may never even put on the "G" and run out onto Foley Field. Or Sanford Stadium, for that matter. The two-sport athlete signed his letter of intent earlier this year to play both football and baseball, a la Israel Troupe, for the Bulldogs. As good as he would have looked in the Red and Black, it appears he will be donning the orange and black for the Baltimore Orioles instead. 50th overall out of high school is too promising for a young man with a bright future to hold out on the opportunity. Sure, we all feel that a college education is key these days, but with his talents and promise, we all hope he'll do just fine.

In other news, Georgia Sports Blog has a great article on the Wolfpack and their bullpen and starting pitching rotation that sounds quite formidable. As hot as our bats are right now we will hopefully be fine, but the 'Pack should pack a punch at the mound.

DawgBone.net also has a handful of good baseball news about Gordo, Fields, Avery, and the upcoming weekend.

And remember, first pitch for the weekend series is tomorrow, Friday, at 12:00 pm. If you can't make it like me, you can catch it on ESPN. We know their presence will be known in and around Foley, but hopefully ESPN gives a shout out or two to the right field brew crew up there at the Greenhouse and Brickhouse.